One fine day, Obama style

Check out the official Play guide to Chicago's scenes from the lives of the new First Family

So your in-laws are in town and they want nothing more than to see the sights. But not Sears Tower. Not the Art Institute of Chicago. No, they want Obama's Chicago. They want to see where the president-elect lives, where he organized community groups -- oh, and where he wooed Michelle Robinson with ice cream.

That's why there's The "Official Play" Tour of Obama's Chicago. We scoured the Tribune's story archives and studied an "unauthorized guide" published earlier this year in our daily features section. Then we pulled together a useful day trip. Carve out some time, though. Obama's life sprawls across the South Side and the Loop. You'll need the better part of a day -- and a car -- to complete the tour. Ambitious? Check out our list of a few more sites.

1. The Obamas' rather grand red-brick home is located in the historic Kenwood neighborhood. Barack and Michelle Obama bought the house for nearly $1.7 million in the summer of 2005. (Warning: You won't get near the house -- Secret Service is blocking access to the area.)

So, we'll start at a more modest location, a condo (5450 S. East View Park, Unit 1) where the family lived for 12 years, before sales from Obama's first book, "Dreams From My Father," swelled their bank account. Not far away is the now-defunct barber shop (1464 E. 53rd St.) where, for 20 years, Obama would have his hair cut. Nearby, the red brick building with green awnings housed the now-closed Baskin-Robbins (1400 E. 53rd St.) where he and the future Mrs. Obama had their first kiss.

2. Next stop: The 57th Street Books (1301 E. 57 St.; 773-684-1300). Obama, a longtime member of the co-op, held launch parties here for his books, "Dreams" and "The Audacity of Hope," and has reportedly called it his favorite bookstore. If hunger kicks in, a visit to Valois (1518 E. 53rd St.; 773-667-0647) is in order. A Hyde Park hub for more than 80 years, Valois is where Obama ate before heading to D.C. for his Senate job. The cafeteria-style restaurant does breakfasts and, on Thursdays and Sundays, a mean chicken pot pie.

3. Now, head south and west, to the leafy University of Chicago campus and the architecturally significant University of Chicago Law School (1111 E. 60th St.), where Obama taught from 1993 to 2003 and perhaps acquired what some have called a "professorial" tone. Designed by Eero Saarinen, the man who gave us the St. Louis Gateway Arch, it has a pleated glass exterior.

4. On to the basketball courts (South Lake Shore Drive and Hayes Drive, an extension of 63rd Street) where Obama and his brother-in-law, Craig Robinson (now a coach at Oregon State University), shot hoops. And where Obama proved he was worthy of Robinson's sister.

5. Michelle and Barack were married Oct. 3, 1992. Their reception? It was held overlooking Lake Michigan at the lovely terra cotta-toned South Shore Cultural Center (7059 South Shore Drive), the next stop on our tour.

Finally, head to Holy Rosary Catholic Church rectory (351 E. 113th St.), where Obama worked as a community organizer in the '80s, a job famously derided by Rudy Giuliani and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin at the GOP convention.

Now, it's time to head north -- past Grant Park's Hutchinson Field (just south of Congress Parkway, east of Michigan Avenue), where Obama gave his victory speech on Election Night in front of 250,000 people. Obama's pre-election campaign headquarters (233 N. Michigan Ave.) were located just west of the Hyatt Regency Chicag o (151 E. Wacker Drive), where Obama watched the election returns with his family and close campaign aides.

Head south and west to Chase Tower (10 S. Dearborn St.); this was once home to what was then known as Sidley & Austin, a prestigious law firm (Sidley Austin is its name these days and is now located across the street at One South Dearborn). This is where Obama met Michelle Robinson in 1989 while he was a summer associate. She was an associate mentor -- his and no, she wasn't into him from the start.

Then it's on to Federal Plaza (50 W. Adams St.), where Obama, as a state senator, gave a speech denouncing the Iraq war during a small 2002 anti-war rally. (And that massive red metal sculpture? It's "Flamingo" by famed American artist Alexander Calder.)

Head west into the city's Market District for a stop at Maria Pinto (135 N. Jefferson St.; 312-648-1350), the shop featuring silk scarves, cashmere scarves, ties and clothing designed by the woman who dressed Michelle Obama for the Democratic National Convention and other notable events.

And now, dinner: That would be Topolobampo (445 N. Clark St.; 312-661-1434), the white-tablecloth sibling of chef Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill. Barack and Michelle are regulars, opting for one of the blue-and-white fabric-covered booths lining the restaurant's south side. And while the menu changes monthly (perfect for what Bayless calls a pair of "adventurous diners"), they often order the guacamole (Michelle) and sopa Azteca (Barack).